Mosasaurus
"The Mosasaurus was thought to have hunted near the surface of the water, where it preyed on anything it could sink its teeth into, including turtles, large fish, even smaller mosasaurs." -- Sarah, the Mosasaurus feeding show announcer. Mosasaurus was a genus of large aquatic carnivore from the Late Cretaceous about 70-65 million years ago. Mosasaurus gave its name to a group of marine lizards, the mosasaurs. Name Meaning Mosasaurus (pronunciation: "moh-suh-saw-rus") means "Lizard of the Meuse River." 'Mosa' stands for the Meuse river in Holland, the location where mosasaurs were first described. 'Saur' (Sauros) is greek for lizard. Anatomy Mosasaurs were powerful swimmers that had a long, streamlined body. The long head had very pointed, powerful jaws with many sharp teeth. Mosasaurs had four short, paddle-like limbs adapted to life in the water. A long tail, perhaps finned, completed its serpentine body. Physical Appearance and Size Mosasaurs were sleek, streamlined, and were mildly fast. They had flipper like paddles for arms and legs. They propelled themselves by moving the back of their bodies and tails in a side to side motion. Mosasaurus were also covered in smooth scales which were probably dark on the back and light on the underbelly. In reality, the smallest mosasaur was about 9.8 feet long. This species, Carinodens belgicus, was suited for shallow water. It had bulbous teeth which were likely used for cracking open mollusks and sea urchins. Clidastes were 10 feet long and from Late Cretaceous North America. Mosasaurs were generally much larger. The longest mosasaur is Hainosaurus, which grew to 57 feet meaning could grown 60ft long. Platycarpus and Dallasasaurus were smaller genera. They reached 10-20 feet long. Platycarpus lived 85-80 mya and was the most common mosasaur in North America. It was generally 14 feet long, shorter in the skull than other mosasaurs, and likely ate shellfish in the shallow sea that covered the middle of North America. Other mosasaurs were predominantly large. Prognathodon reached about 33 feet long. Other examples include Tylosaurus and Mosasaurus, which were 33-49 ft long. Mosasaurus could reach 50 feet long and is estimated to have weighed 15 tons. It was from the Late Cretaceous and lived 70-65 mya. It is recognized for a blunt head that resembles an alligator and the tail fin that was present in some mosasaurs. These large reptiles were apex predators of their time. In Jurassic World, the Mosasaurus was able to reach full size of over 72ft long and weigh over 30,000lbs. Creation Creation A single Mosasaurus was created for the new Jurassic World as an amusement for viewers as a feeding show. She is the only one in Jurassic World and is the first aquatic creature known to have been cloned. They added a saltwater crocodile and a monitor lizard to complete the missing code in it's DNA. History Jurassic World (2015) The mosasaur's feeding show displayed the Mosasaurus eating a shark, identified as a great white shark. This show occurred every two hours. The Mosasaur lived in a 3 million gallon pool of water located near the Main Street known as the Jurassic World Lagoon. Visitors could also view her through an aquarium below the lagoon known as the Underwater Observatory to see her. Jurassic World Incident She swallowed a Pteranodon after the flying reptiles of the aviary was released, taking the British assistant Zara with her. At the end of the battle between the Indominus rex, Rexy the T. rex and Blue the Velociraptor , the Mosasaurus beached herself to catch the hybrid in her powerful jaws and dragged it to the bottom of the lagoon, thus killing it by drowning the hybrid and saving the park. Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom She had apparently escaped from her exhibited showing she had survived four years since the outbreak that was caused by Indominus Rex. She might had survived from the escaped dinosaurs possible prey on the flying reptiles that came to to her enclosure. She had shown to be near the main land to attacking surfers. Abilities Strength The Mosasaurus is a very large powerful aquatic reptile that was shown to be strong enough to drag the struggling Indominus rex into the water. She has very powerful jaw strength with a bite force of 13,000 pounds, which was at least as powerful as the Tyrannosaurus. She uses her powerful jaw strength to kill a Pteranodon and finally drown the Indominus rex. Hunting In reality, mosasaurs fed on such prey as large fish, plesiosaurs, seabirds, sharks and other mosasaurs. It would prey on Pterosaurs and some dinosaurs that fell into the water. In Jurassic World, it is fed by the volunteers with dead Great White Sharks and jumps out of the water to feed. Mosasaurus were probably ambush hunters and in the film seem to be patient predators, able to wait until the Pteranodon was low enough over the lagoon or until the railing had been knocked away and the Indominus rex was within reach. In reality, mosasaurs probably rarely ventured close to shore for risk of getting stuck and then suffocating under its own weight, but Jurassic World's mosasaur partially beached herself to grab the Indominus. Aquatic Although Mosasaurs lived their lives in the seas as able to stay underwater for long period of time, but they still needed to breathe air and had to surface periodically in order to breathe. Their ancestors dwelled in water as early crocodiles. Trivia * Average sized mosasaurs can reach 40ft long, but the biggest found was approximately fifty-seven feet long, meaning they could probably have reached sixty feet in length. The Jurassic World's Mosasaurus was seventy-two feet long; this was probably due to the gaps in its DNA being filled with the DNA of modern animals. * Colin Trevorrow came up with the idea of featuring Mosasaurus, the film's main marine reptile which you see in the trailer. He pitched the idea to Spielberg of having the Mosaurus feed on a shark in front of bleachers filled with park guests. Spielberg loved the idea of the Mosaurus eating the shark but suggested that when the animal grabs the shark that the whole bleacher section would slide down using a hydraulic system so that the audience will be able to see the Mosasaurus feeding underwater. The moment where the Mosasaurus soaked 200 extras in the bleacher section was Colin Trevorrow's favorite moment of shooting. * Some fans have nicknamed the Mosasaurus "shygal" because she was described as shy by Sarah, the feeding show announcer. * The captive mosasaur in Jurassic World is the only surviving member of her genus and her family. * It has been suggested that another facility mass-produces the sharks the Mosasaurus eats via cloning (possibly to avoid lawsuits or accusations of animal abuse, since great white sharks are endangered). * The Mosasaurus' bite scene has been changed three times in the trailer. Category:Sea Animals Category:Animals that caused deaths Category:Dinosaurs Category:Antiheroines